coming up next on msnbc saturday, on the hill, on the brink of history, right to the heart of national defense. plus, on the move, americans jamming the airports to get a jump start on their holiday getaway. we're going to take you live to one of the busiest airports in the country. also, it's the holiday shopping home stretch. see how retailers are hoping to cash in on freer spending. and funny business, see why your boss should encourage you to log on and laugh off. good morning, everyone. welcome to msnbc saturday. it's 9:00 a.m. on the east coast. 6:00 a.m. on the west coast. it's a huge morning on capitol hill. senators are due to arrive on the floor right now and they'll be holding two highly anticipated votes. the first one is the dream act which offers a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. also today, the third effort this year to repeal a ban on

openly gay soldiers serving in the military. ken strickland is live on capitol hill for us once again. how is it going to play out today, ken? >> well, it's the rare saturday session, not really so retire, trying to get everything done in congress before they adjourn for christmas. this is the second saturday session since the election. let's look at what's on the schedule for today. they're going to do the dream act. that vote is in about an hour and a half. we don't think that will get the 60 votes it needs to advance to final passage. after that, the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. a big priority for the president. also on schedule today, the confirmation of two injury additional nominees and then they will renew the debate on s.t.a.r.t., another huge priority of the president. those supporting the repeal of the dream act, it's passed the house twice but it's always been the senate that's been the hold

up. democrats don't have the 60 votes on their own, but joe liborman says he has the support of enough republicans that can get it over the edge. let's take a look at those four republicans who are publicly committed to support don't ask, don't tell. susan collins of maine, scott brown of massachusetts, lisa murkowski of alaska and oh olympia snowe also of maine. joe lieberman thinks there will be more republicans who will join in. >> continue to believe that we're going to end up with more support on our republican side than the four that we've talked about. let's say for now that i'm confident that we've got more than 60 votes. >> alex, after today, there's still a few other things left to be done. we've put up a list of things that they still have to do before they go home for christmas. they have to figure out how they're going to fund the government for next year. right now, there's only enough money to keep the government

open until tuesday. democrats and republicans have assures us they will not have a government shutdown. but, of course, the 9/11 first responders health bill, a priority for new york democrats who say this must be done to take care of the first responders who are sick after trying to rescue people on 9/11. the votes start at 10:30. we think don't ask, don't tell is the thing that will take center stage. i wouldn't be surprised if the president comes out if they have the 60 votes to get it over this threshold. it will be a simple 51 vote majority. that could happen as early as today or tomorrow. alex. >> ken strickland, you laid it all out for us. thank you so much. president obama signed the new tax bill into law on friday. the $858 billion bill was hammered out. it extends the bush era tax cuts to every american and extends jobless benefits for 13 months. it included a 2% cut to social security tax, which gives the

average worker about an extra $20 per week. we're going to have more on this coming up tomorrow for you on "meet the press" which viewpoint joe biden l be david gregory's exclusive guest. with just one shopping week until christmas, retailers are pulling out all the stops. the toy shops in times square is staying open from now until 10:00 p.m. on christmas eve. talk about a marathon. and many of those shoppers are waiting until the last minute. >> i'm going out on my lunch breaks, i'm running around right after work. >> if you're last minute, hope something is still there or get a gift certificate. >> kristin dahlgren is live at tyson's center mall. good morning to you. i want to talk about the hours, the deals, the foot traffic. what are you seeing along those lines there? >> hey, good morning, alex.

already a busy morning here at tyson's corner. a lot of shoppers out. that's because a lot of people haven't finished their christmas shopping yet. keep in mind that there is -- with christmas falling on a saturday this year, there's one less weekend for people to be shopping. retailers know that. that's why they're still giving people big discounts. a lot of electronics marked down. we've heard between 50 and 90% off some electronics. those deals not expected to stick around all the way until christmas. some of them ending on sunday. as far as closing those, those deals expected to continue to get even better. now, sales have been great for retailers so far this year. up about 3% over last year. that's higher than expected. that's expected to continue as we go through this season. americans will spend about $451.4 billion on their holiday shopping this year. but one in three people, alex, hasn't finished. they're only about half done with their holiday shopping.

so, really, the big run up over the next week, as you said, a lot of those stores staying open 24 hours a day as they go into the christmas weekend. so this is going to be a big run here as we go throw the next week. >> are people explaining, though, why they're waiting until last minute? we've done so many stories about if you wait, it's going to be gone in terms of what retailers supply their stores with. >> you know, a lot of it still is about the deal, alex. there's procrastinator is out there like me, but a lot of people waiting to see if those prices are going to come down even more. but as you said, if things sell out, you're going to be left out. almost 12% of americans say they wait until the 24th of december to finish their christmas shopping. >> no way. that would never work for me. you have about an hour until we talk to you again, so get out there and shop, kristin

dahlgren. >> thank you. holiday shopping is half the battle. you have the travel headaches that come with getting to your local day destination. kevin tibbles is live for us at chicago's o'hare airport where it's been incredibly busy. this morning, we started at 6:15 local time with you. it was packed. >> well, my hat goes out to everyone who is going to stay home and wrap presents today. i'm not so sure i'm the kind of guy who would want to be in -- this place is packed today with people. i've never seen so much checked luggage in a long time. there are people going through here with suitcases that look like they've got an aman na washer dryer set on the inside. this is a very busy place today. but i'm happy to see that the board shows no consolations, not too many delays and the security lines, while they are doing a brisk business, people are traveling through them.

everything seems to be up this time of year as you were just discussing with kristin. a lot more people are doing more shopping, buying more things. more people are also traveling and flying. flying is up 3% this year. and the airlines are saying that you're not going to be lonely sitting on the plane because all of the seats are pretty much full and you are going to have seat mates when you're traveling. so pack some patience when you go out to places like o'hare and let's hope the weather stays chilly, but the skies stay clear. >> yeah. that would certainly help. kevin, can you ask your cameraman to pan off a little bit? is that a security check line that you have right next to you there? exactly. oh, okay. that -- there's a lot of people. is that what that is? >> they're doing their thing. they're doing their thing. they're going through and everyone -- >> taking their shoes off and opening everything up and -- yeah. >> yeah, well, don't show up with wrapped presents. that's not really a good idea.

but everybody looks blurry eyed to me this morning. i think a lot of people had to get up at the crack of dawn to get out here. but you know there's something good waiting for them at the other end, whether it's a turkey dinner or whatever. >> just a big hug from family, too, that works. good to keep in mind. thanks so much, kevin tibl. because of a major snowstorm, this is not great traveling for you if you're in the midwest. also in this year in nevada, they're looking at lots of snow there. it's expected in idaho, montana, wyoming, across the rocky mountain ranges there. we're going to have a full report with nbc meteorologist bill karins coming up in a few minutes on what you can expect. investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked this massive four alarm fire at a historic tabernacle in utah. that tabernacle was built back in the 1880s and '90s and it's been on the national register of historic places since 1975.

police in new york say they don't expect to find any more bodies along a long island beach where the remains of four women were found a week ago. teams were out comb ago ten-mile stretch along the beach this weekend looking for any additional bodies or clues. authorities say a serial killer may be responsible. and a staggering new development this morning in the case involving an accused serial killer in los angeles. investigators say they have received hundreds of calls after releasing the photos of more than 100 women who may be the victims of the so-called grim sleecher. sleeper. >> pictures of 180 women, each face a mystery. police say they all have one thing in common, a connection to lonnie franklin, dubbed the grim sleeper. >> these people are not suspects. we don't even know if they're victims. >> 57-year-old franklin, an ex

auto mechanic is charged with killing ten women, predominantly working class americans. detectives say he started his spree in 1985, killing several people in his los angeles neighborhood and more than 15 years later, he came back. the case was dubbed the grim sleeper for the apparent time gap in the killing spree. franklin was arrested in 2010 when advanced dna testing linked him to the crimes. police say these pictures suggest there may be more victims. >> i think it's abdomen absurd to think that he stopped one day and picked up several years later. >> according to investigators, these photos were found inside franklin's home. police say some of these photos may be 20 to 30 years old. now, they're on the front page. >> hundreds of phone calls have poured into the los angeles police department. people who recognize missing loved ones, latanya clark says picture number 118 is her

sister, last seen in 2005. >> i just want answers because it's been five years and i've been getting the run around for five years. >> many community leaders have expressed frustration with authorities for their seemingly slow response to solving the killings. >> we would have seen a much more aggressive investigation on behalf of the law nfrt community had these been upper middle class white women. >> police believe they have their killer behind bars. >> there are over hundreds of investigators that participated in this through the 25 years trying to bring justice for these victims. >> they are hoping these photos will shed some light on how many victims franklin had, women who may be unidentified, but who are not forgotten. kristin welker, nbc news, los angeles. just in time for the holiday, greater concerns about al qaeda. why is the fbi telling local authorities to be on the look out for any signs owe of trouble? also coming up, the earth

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american counterterrorism officials are warning about threats from al qaeda during the holiday season. the fbi and homeland security offices are calling local security departments to keep their eyes open and change up usual security measures. this morning, however, does not include information about specific plots. joining me again to talk more about this, michael sheen. another good morning to you. we have a senior u.s. intelligence official who says this is a credible terrorist threat. how do you read it? >> chatter goes up and down over

the course of a year. when i was in the government, i didn't put a lot to it. in this case, you get chatter that's coming from iraq and other places, coming close to the holiday period where people are already on edge in the government. they've decided to put out this warning. >> okay. now, what are you hearing about it, though? you're saying there's not specifics. is this nationally? is it targeting cities? >> well, some of it is coming out of iraq out of insurgent camps. normally insurgents that are fighting local battles for power normally aren't as connected directly to the international terrorism networks, like al qaeda. in this case, i'm not sure how specific this evidence is, but there's probably other chatter that the fbi is referring to that collectively put their guard up. >> when you talk about this kind of chatter, the fact that we're focussing on this and talking about it, could that be a ruse to throw off authorities? >> i don't think so. normally we're looking for

activity coming out of pakistan or yemen right now. but actually, since it's not specific, all intelligence officials are going to ramp up their activity coming into the holidays. >> we hear if it's true that officials are keeping their eyes on folks in europe, they're not going to disclose who they're watching or what they're watching at all. but the kind of surveillance that they're doing in europe is potentially what? >> well, alex, there are investigations going on around the world in the united states and in europe, there are persons of interest, there are suspects under surveillance, under investigation. so when you ramp that up, you would throw more people, more overtime, more investigators out there to look at people, follow their activity, listen to their phone conversations if you have that authority. what you're looking for is unusual movement, unusual activity, people moving to or from pakistan or iraq areas. unusual meetings of people, acquisition of bomb making material, any type of activity that may show the maturation of a plot. that's what they're looking for.

they're throwing more people at it, more time, more energy during this period. >> when you just talked about that, i thought, the manpower and the time it takes to adequately survey all of this. >> that's right. >> do we have that in place? >> it can be exhausting, both to the organization, to its people and to its budgets. so when i was in nypd and other parts of government, we tried to keep a stable level approach to this because you could get exhausted during certain periods of holidays than what happened after that when serve recovering. then you become more vulnerable. so most of the professional countertimp officials and organizations try to keep a steady, 100% activity through the year and not get jerked around too much by chatter that may be unconsental. >> michael sheehan, thank you very much for coming in. across the pond this morning, some folks are dealing with the worst snowstorms in generations. hey, guys. printer's out of ink.

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rethink possible. you might think that by watching this your boss might get on your case. well, tell her, since i've got a lady boss, that watching funny videos at work helps employees become more creative. a researchers found that funny videos put people in good moods and that gets the creative juices flowing. you might have a hard time watching hours of youtube. your boss might go for a routine video break every day. than funny right there. meantime, let's get to this. "tron: legacy" debuting this

weekend. >> complete. activity synchronized. proceed to games. >> games? what am i supposed to do? >> ur jive. >> let's get the details now from dawn yanek. 28 years in the working, worth the wait? >> it seems to be work out well for disney. it seems like they'll be making $58 million for opening weekend. men of all ages have been buzzing about this for months now. certainly the fan boys from 1982 who are all grown up are excited to go and see this movie. there's 3d technology, sleek visuals and a great nos taj ya factor and we have jeff bridges who is fantastic in everything he does. that said, it's sleek, glossy,

but a little confusing as far as the plot goes. the love story never quite gets off the ground. the 3d delivers, but maybe not as much as you'd like it to. but it's going to do great business and for the uninitiated, it's basically like a super wi-fi between the star wars and matrix. definitely a boy movie. >> what about "how do you know" and "yogi bear" the latter which we have a clip of. let's play some of "yogi bear," everybody. >> yogi, grab my paw. >> ow. >> sorry. >> you know what nick just said in my ear? he said i'm so used to yogi bear as a cartoon, this doesn't work for him. >> and it doesn't work for a lot of people. the reviews have been absolutely awful. but let's face it, are the

reviews are for very young people and they're going to love it. it's probably going to earn about $17 million despite awful reviewses. there are some big voices in there, dan act reside and justin miller. >> "how do you do." >> there's a love triangle between reese witherspoon, paul rudd and owen wilson. the movie doesn't come together as a whole. it's probably not going to break $10 million this weekend. >> let's take a look back at 2010. what are some of the best films? >> if we're talking about biggest box office movies, "toy story 3," "inception," "eclipse," which you and i loved. >> avatar 2. >> and last year was a record year at the box office. we're talking $10.6 billion. this year, it seems like it was a lot less, but it's not that

far behind. so we may have another record year this year, but it's a little too early to tell especially since november sales were down. >> okay. thank you so much. >> thank you. for several years now, an aurora, colorado homeowner has had his driveway christmas lights mysteriously cut. but this year, he set up a camera to catch that culprit. was there a scrooge or a grinch in play? nope. turns out it was a rabbit chewing on the wire. now the homeowner has used pepper spray on the wire in hopes of catching that bad bunny. [ male announcer ] if you think you can only charge your things

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new s.t.a.r.t. treaty with russia. north korea says it will attack with more force if south korea goes ahead with live artillery drills. those xeshzs are expected to be held next week. in central china, a truck carrying material for fire crackers exploded after running into a utility poll and the result, nine people dead, nine others injured. in amanda knox' appeal trial, a judge is expected to decide on two requests, first a review of all the evidence and a second for new witness testimony. as a precaution, the man accused of plotting to set off a bomb in portland, oregon, is being kept away from other prisoners. those are your fast five headlines. it's the last weekend before christmas. many americans are hitting the road to go shopping or head home for the holidays. here is how it looks at

chicago's o'hare airport this morning. some of these folks may be among the 2.5 million americans traveling by air this holiday. will the weather cooperate for them? we'll look at our national forecast. we're going to our resident weather god. bill karins, good morning to you. >> no pressure there. alex, we were talking earlier in the week, the possibility of a big snowstorm moving up the east coast. that's not going to happen any more. the eastern half of the country looks just fine this weekend. still a cold blast of air, but that's not going to cause any travel issues if you're flying or driving. all of our concerns are out west. we are going to have one storm after another. none of them in itself is going to be a big deal. but when we have five days in a row of this, it will be a pretty impressive event. in los angeles, you have rain in your forecast the next five days. a big batch of heavy rain is now moving into santa maria. how much rain are we expecting? the mountainous areas could pick up as much as 6 to 7 inches of rain.

and at the highest of elevations, that's going to be snow. areas like mammoth and yosemite, even tahoe, they could be talking about feet of snow. maybe 5 to 10 feet, so that's crazy totals. los angeles, this is like a seattle forecast with rain on and off the next five days. now, there hasn't been a lot of fires lately, so we're not too concerned with nud mudslides, but we'll have to watch it carefully. in the middle of the country, no real issues saturday or sunday. by the time sunday arrives, it's really still the west coast where all the stormy weather is. l.a., they could see rain until the middle of this upcoming week. may end up with close to their yearly total. >> not so bad. it's not icy or anything. as long as you can drive in the rain, you should be fine. >> tell me about it. ben there, done that. for the latest weather advisories and the forecast where you are, you can always head to weather.com. more from washington now, president obama and republican leaders are both claiming victory on that massive tax bill

that was signed into law yesterday. if our latest nbc "wall street journal" poll is any indication, they are both right. 59% of the americans agree with the tax agreement they've worked out. 36% disapprove. only 23% say the president gave up too much in the tax deal. 10% say republicans gave up too much. good saturday morning to you, amy. >> good morning, alex. >> do you think everyone is a winner here, maybe? >> i do. i think that the president felt that the mandates from the elections was that both waters want -- i mean, the americans want both parties to work together. i think that's how he sees the mandate because he needs to win back the middle, independent voters he won in '08 and lost in 2010. but i would say for republicans, they do not see a mandate to work with the president from the

election results. the tea party movement and the angry grassroots conservatives don't necessarily want republicans to work with the president that much. they want them to be pure and they want them to do a lot of cutting. but both sides really thought that there was something to gain from this agreement. and i actually believe that both the republican leadership and the congress and the president really just did not want to potentially rock the stock market, lose jobs and see those taxes go up on january 1. >> so is that why this all worked, because both sides, idealogically speaking saw something to gain here? is this a template of things to come or when this whole holiday spirit thing is over, we'll be back to the democrats versus republicans? >> there will be some very tough months ahead. the two parties in congress right now have decided to put off a decision on annual spending package. and so they're just going to

have what's called, you know, a stopgap measure called a continuing resolution. it's going to go just a couple months from now and expire in late february, early march. at that point, there will be a huge debate about spending cuts that republicans will propose and defend and the democrats will likely oppose. president obama will be caught somewhere in the middle. the tax cut package, you know, alex, it had a looming deadline and i think that deadline, not only did they agree on policy that taxes shouldn't be raised on americans during a deep recession, but i think also at the same time, the deadline really makes people work faster, as we've seen 0.with many, many major policy initiatives during the lame duck session. >> what about republicans who are right now looking at their s.t.a.r.t. treaty? they said the treaty needs more discussion time. do you think that is the real reason? >> well, that's simply not true. i understand why parties -- both parties tend to resist major decisions being made in the lame duck congress. it is true that in 1992 the

first s.t.a.r.t. treaty passed over a period of five days on the senate floor and the second one in 2003 took only two days. and both passed with votes in the 90s. i mean, you know, 93 senators, 96 senators. so it's not true that it needs to take so long. but it's also not true that it needs to pass in this session. president obama is pushing for this now because he only needs nine republicans to get him to the 67 vote threshold. he knows if it goes into january, he loses democrats, there's more republicans there and he'll need 14 more republicans. that's going to be a tough hurdle for him. that's why he's pushing for it now. so both sides are sort of playing politics with it. but republicans would argue to you, which i think is interesting, there's no political consequence here. i mean, there's no pressure for them to vote yes or no. no one will be voted out of office if they vote against it or for it so there's not a lot of force behind it. they're making this calendar issue, without the time, we just

can't do it. >> a.b.stoddard, thank you. >> thank you. earlier this morning, i spoke with kirs tin jillibrand about this morning's vote on don't ask, don't tell. >> we will repeal this corowsive policy of don't ask, don't tell. when we're focused on the military, we want to focus on military readiness, strength of the military. what this policy has done is undermine that. we've got about 10% of our foreign language speakeres and we've lost about 800 in mission critical areas that cannot be easily replaced. so making sure we have all of our best and brightest able to defend this country, to be in iraq, to be in afghanistan, to make sure that we can defend against terrorism is crucial. so this vote is about military readiness and making sure all of our best and brightest can fight. it's almost about the morality of this country. this is something that is clearly an issue of civil liberties, civil rights and equality. we want to make sure people are not denied the ability to serve

this country, to die for this country just based on who they love. >> keep it right here for the latest on the senate's debate and don't on don't ask, don't tell. we will stay with you all day until the senators are wrapped up their actions on the contentious issue. the scandal ridden city of bell, california, is right on the claps brink of the collapse of several million dollars. bell may have to get rid of their police force. they're reeling in extravagant salaries and pensions. eight current and former officials have been charged in a public corruption case. across the atlantic this morning, a winter wicked storm is paralyzing countries all over europe. subzero temperatures, snow and ice hitting so hard that forecasters are calling this storm historic. in fact, the worst the region has seen in 25 years. the storm is having a troubling if not catastrophic affect on both drivers and air travelers. nbc has been following this all

morning for us from london, which has taken quite a lashing there. good morning to you, jen. what's the story right now? >> good morning, alex. well, when i came in, i've obviously now come in from the cold. certainly the snow started to ease off a bit here in london. of course, the rest of the country, it's causing absolute chaos. we've got airports closed. the two main london airports -- well, heath roe, all the british airways flights they've been stopped and they're not getting off the ground at all. we've got people who have been stranded on the motorways overnight. they have been stuck in their cars and the people up in the north of england and in scotland are saying that the snow is now so bad up there, that it's taking four hours to travel just four miles over in northern ireland. as you say, they're experiencing the heaviest snowfall that they've had for 25 years. overnight, i think it was something like two feet of snow fell there. so,r'yr really, there is a lot snow and it's causing chaos, alex. absolutely. let's bring the proof that you were out there just a little

short while ago. i mean, we're going to show some video. tell me what that was like. the only thing that stood out earlier was the fact that you were wearing red. the rest of it blended in with the background. it was so snowy. >> it was. it was like an absolute whiteout. it's a beautiful picture coast card there outside of buckingham palace. but it was difficult to make out the palace at one point because the snow was coming down so hard. at one point, there were very few cars on the road and people were having to travel by foot. >> and how cold is it out there? chilly chilly or not so bad? >> it was absolutely freezing. i was kind of leaping up and down just to keep myself warm. your fingers, they really turn into icicles. some warm hearted folks in burlington, vermont, have done the unthinkable. it's a polar bear plunge, not only for fun, but it is for

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but my allergies put me in a fog. so now, i'm claritin clear! claritin works great on all my allergies like dust, mold, pollen, or pets without making me drowsy, cause i want to be alert around this big guy. live claritin clear. indoors and out. a newly released report about the afghan war says significant gains have been made against the taliban and al qaeda. much of the credit is going right to u.s. forces which are expected to start leaving the region in july of next year with full scheduled withdrawal scheduled for 2014. but some say the actual progress is fragile. earlier this week, president obama said our troops continued to face a very tough fight. >> in short, al qaeda is hunkered down. it will take time to ultimately defeat al qaeda and it remains a ruthless and resilient enemy bent on attacking our country.

but make no mistake, we are going to remain relentless in disrupting and dismantling that terrorist organization. ron sajiv joins us now from afghanistan. nice to see you. >> good morning, alex. >> let's talk about the picture being painted right now. is it really as recognizy as it looks? >> i think it's a mixed bag. particularly around the violent city of kandahar down in the south, u.s. troops are made real gains over the past several months. also in other parts in the south and west of the country. that's a direct result of putting in more troops. the full component of obama's surge forces have now arrived. that's 30,000 additional troops. when you put more american boots on the ground, they will start to improve security. the bigger question here, and that is what was highlighted in the report that was released this week is that the other

components of the strategy, most notably what the afghan government has to do to improve the basic buildup of its security forces, that's not moving as fast as the united states would hope. and there's also that looming question of those sanctuaries for the insurgents across the border in neighboring pakistan. >> rajiv, what did you see the last time you were there and what is your take on it? >> i was there last night and i was in helmund province. i saw some significant changes. i was in those places in the summer of 2009 when there were literally taliban hot beds when the forces that were in those districts were pretty much hunkered down in their bases. it was very violent. now things look pretty peaceful. you can walk around without body armor on. in the bizarre areas, schools are open. but what military officials tell

me as well as afghans is that these gains, as the white house noted, are still very, very fragile. people are scared that the taliban might return. they remain uncertain about which direction the future is headed over there. >> you bring up pakistan. the report says that al qaeda in pakistan is the weakest it's been since september 11th. and you've probably herd the reports that officials and homeland security officials are bracing for what could be the suicide attacks in the u.s. over the holidays. these comments you hear from the president, all that is put together. do you think they are really that weak? >> well, i think you have to look at what's happened to al qaeda since 9/11. it's really spread out globally. and some of the significant threats of the u.s. homeland now face sess not from al qaeda operatives based in pakistan, but in places like yemen and others. so when you look at the global threat, it's not just pakistan central. i do think that the senior leadership of al qaeda has been

hammered pretty hard, largely because of these drone strikes that have escalated under the obama administration. and so, you know, it, again, is a bit of a mixed bag. the ability of senior leaders in that part of the world, perhaps, to plot attacks has been diminished, but that doesn't mean the overall threat the united states faces from al qaeda has been significantly reduced. >> okay. rajiv, good to see you. thank you. >> good to talk to you. both truckdrivers and bus drivers may be forbidden to use cell phones when they're at the wheel. fines against drivers and their companies and operators can lose their licenses, in fact, if they're caught driving and talking more than one time. similar ban on texting and driving went into effect a bit earlier this year. so let's get right to today's number ones on the heels of that. top to the list of top cities for mholiday spending. after all the numbers crunching, raleigh, north carolina, come

out on top with a per capita spending of $12,569. usa st austin, texas, followed by arlington, virginia. if you had to get what city is most charitable? the daily beast says it is seattle. it looks at what they donate and how many people donate their time. san francisco is second on that list followedly cans is city, missouri, atlanta, and dallas. what's the fastest growing small town? fairbanks, alaska, so says "forbes" magazine. population growth of 14% in,0006 to,00 2009. let's go down to a couple of singing sensations because of telephone, billboard names lady gaga the artist of the year. she won the new artist title last year. they everything ranked the top 100 holiday songs based on sales and air play last year. so surprise, it's mariah carey's "all i want for christmas is you."

it tops the list. those are your number ones on msnbc on saturday. let's play it, guys. ♪ ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage. it helps engines last longer by fighting

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knew newark place say it is unlikely they will find more bodies. it could take weeks, or months, before authorities are able to identify the bodies. officials say a serial killer could be responsible. joining me live is fbi profiler clint van zandt. good morning. >> alex, good morning. another tough topic. >> here in the holiday season as well. police have been searching this long island beach all week long

for more bodies. what do you make of police saying they don't expect find anything more? >> it's christmas. while everybody else is engaged in wrapping presents, we know that the bodies of these fourer deceased women were also find wrapped. but in their case wrapped in burlap. it appears that the bodies were dumped in this area area within a few hundred feet of each other over a period of two years. and the police have been up and down about ten-mile area. so their belief right now is that the -- there is no more bodies out there to be found. so, of course, the question is who are these women, what do they have in common, and as important, who do they have in common, who might have placed their bodies there and why. >> with detectives saying they believe these women were killed elsewhere and bodies moved to this location, does that speak to you of a serial killer? what's your gut tell you? >> my gut tells me there could be. but you and i know that newspapers speculate and

investigators investigate. right now, you know, serial killer, that just sends chills. it's ted bundy all over again and scares the heck out of people. so i think law enforcement has got to be careful as they look at this. i mean, alex, it could be, for example, these four women were involved in drug activities. they died and somebody simply dumped their body after that. until we know the cause of death and until we can link that cause of death perhaps homicide to somebody else, i think right now we've got four unidentified bodies who probably died under mysterious circumstances. we just got to find out who they are. >> anything more on this confiscated suv earlier this week? >> well, it was -- it was an suv of a john, of a client, alleged prostitute who disappeared in that area. she, based scientifically, is not one of -- even though she's still gone, she's not one of the four bodies that were found.

so they're going to look in his suv and do the csi type of investigation to see if there's anything that might link his vehicle, his house, or him to any of these four women. but so far, nothing there. >> okay. clint van zandt, as always, many thanks. >> thank you. we're keeping our eye of what happened on the senate floor and action on don't ask, don't tell. we'll keep an eye for it here. ring ring. progresso. oh yes hi. can you please put my grandma on the phone please? thanks. excuse me a sec. another person calling for her grandmother.

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